Care homes are investing in rapid Covid testing to help keep residents and staff safe

A growing number of care homes and healthcare recruitment companies are paying for rapid Covid testing in a bid to keep residents and staff safe from coronavirus.

With the elderly and clinically vulnerable being most affected by the virus, it is not surprising that care homes have been on the front line during the pandemic with nearly 20,000 care home residents dying from COVID-19.

Now with winter upon us, cases are once again rising in the UK and the care sector is doing its utmost to stave off infection.

The antigen test kit reveals if a person is currently infected with the SARS-COV-2 pathogen, with the antigen no longer being present, once the infection has gone.

Craig Roberts, business development manager from Avanta Care, a healthcare recruitment company said: “At Avanta Care, we supply flexible healthcare assistants and nurses to care homes, nursing homes and hospitals throughout the UK, so naturally the safety of carers and residents is our utmost priority in these unprecedented times.

“We are planning to use the Panodyne Antigen Rapid Test Kit from Multibrands as it is safe and easy to use with very reliable results, thus providing care homes with much needed peace of mind when hiring from us.”

The Panodyne SARS-COV-2 Antigen Rapid Test Kit uses a specially designed swab that is inserted into the nostril and mouth to take samples from the nasal cavity and tonsils.

Multibrands International has become one of the first companies in the UK to launch an approved Covid-19 Antigen Test Kit Panodyne that reveals current infection. Collected samples are placed into an extraction tube that contains approximately 0.5ml of a specially designed virus preservation solution. After two minutes, the specimen is placed on a testing cassette, and the result is revealed within 15 minutes.

Rizwana Hussain, sales director, and co-founder at Multibrands International says the test has up to 98 per cent accuracy, adding: “The Panodyne Covid test kit will help care homes carry out their own tests in-house on a regular basis to detect the presence of the virus quickly and help keep both carers and patients safe.

“Having their own test kits at the ready will give care homes better control and a quick response time in their ability to test staff and patients who show symptoms and those who are asymptomatic.

“Since the initial outbreak of the virus, we have invested over £12 million into our Panodyne range to manufacture and supply essential PPE products to support the ongoing battle to tackle the virus and stop the spread of infection.

"We have made it very clear that this test kit should only ever be used by trained medical professionals and we understand that this Antigen Test Kit is one of the first of its type to achieve conformity and able to carry the CE logo.”

Rapid Covid testing is currently being rolled out across England by the government in areas where there is a high rate of infections.

For more information on Panodyne Antigen Rapid Test Kits please visit multibrands.eu.com/panodyne/